Cultural Diversity in Psychiatry

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Chambers ◽  
Mary Guerriero Austrom ◽  
Ryan Harris ◽  
Danielle Patterson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Key Words Aging ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Manage Care ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Key Aspects

This purpose of this review is to provide general guidelines to practicing psychiatrists and psychologists on cultural diversity in the discipline. Diversity and mental health is a complex topic in a complex discipline, and our goal is to contribute to an understanding of how cultural identity affects our work. This review does not explicitly state how to treat any one cultural group. Rather, it is a tool for psychiatrists and other mental health providers to begin a sensitive and helpful conversation with patients of all backgrounds and a way to explore their own cultural identities. As our nation becomes increasingly diverse, providers are expected to understand how a patient’s cultural identity impacts the presenting problem and, ultimately, treatment. In addition, an ever-present opportunity remains for mental health professionals to explore their own cultural identity and how it may be involved in conscious and unconscious biases, which, in turn, also impact how they interpret, treat, and manage care. We explore key aspects of diversity with the goal of cultivating a deeper level of insight and awareness among psychiatrists in training and those currently in practice when caring for patients with diverse backgrounds. The guidelines offer a starting point toward delivering culturally competent care and, coupled with a commitment to lifelong learning from psychiatrists and other mental health professionals, can help minimize the stigma of traditionally marginalized groups.  This review contains 7 tables, and 67 references.  Key words: aging, diversity, LGBTQ, psychiatry, race, religion 

scholarly journals Putting meaning into medicine: why context matters in psychiatry

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 292-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Carpenter-Song
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Medication Management ◽  
Symptom Control ◽  
Mental Health Providers ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Illness Experiences ◽  
Care Demands

Mainstream psychiatry emphasises controlling symptoms by taking medications. This approach ignores the role of context in shaping illness experiences and how people engage with mental health professionals. The focus on symptom control and medication management also narrows the function of the psychiatrist. This editorial argues that knowledge of patients’ lives is important for providing empathic care that is oriented to the outcomes that matter to patients. In addition, care that attends to the person-in-context motivates and sustains mental health providers by putting meaning back into medicine. Truly patient-centred care demands pushing back against the reductionism of contemporary psychiatry to thoughtfully engage with the complexities of patients’ lives.

Integrating mental health professionals into the care team to better recognize and manage delirium in hospitalized oncology patients.

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (30_suppl) ◽  
pp. 83-83
Author(s):  
Joseph Hooley ◽  
Laurel Ralston ◽  
Joel Daniel Marcus ◽  
Carolyn Best ◽  
Diana Karius ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Unit Length ◽  
Care Team ◽  
Clinical Social Workers ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Front Line ◽  
Order Set

83 Background: Delirium is a common neuropsychiatric condition associated with increased morbidity and mortality, length of hospitalization, and distress. The prevalence of delirium in cancer ranges from 10% to 30% in hospitalized patients and up to 85% in terminally ill cancer patients. Rates of delirium on Cleveland Clinic’s inpatient oncology units were lower than expected. Our goal was to integrate mental health professionals into the care team to assist with better recognition and management of delirium. Methods: Education was developed for a range of caregivers, including physicians, nurses, and advanced practice providers. It was facilitated by a psychiatrist, psychologist, and clinical social workers, and included proper identification of both hyper- and hypoactive delirium through use of the Brief Confusion Assessment Method (bCAM) and use of a delirium order set to treat and manage patients identified as positive for delirium. An important component of this education included a proper assessment and comparison of patients’ current mental status compared to their true baseline prior to hospitalization. Additional integration directly into the care team included participation of the psychiatrist, psychologist, and clinical social workers into each team’s multidisciplinary rounds to facilitate discussions around delirium and its appropriate management, and separate targeted rounding which included one-to-one education with front-line caregivers. Results: During the first year of integration, substantial improvements were noted. The percentage of patients identified as positive for delirium through bCAM screening increased from 3.4% to 15.8% after 12 months, and utilization of the delirium order set increased from 11.1% to 58.3%. Additionally, the average nursing unit length of stay (LOS) for delirium-positive patients decreased by more than 2 days compared to baseline. Conclusions: Integration of mental health providers into the care team to assist with recognizing and managing patients with delirium and to provide direct education to front-line caregivers has helped to rapidly improve delirium identification and management for oncology inpatients.

scholarly journals Best Practices for Working with Latinx Older Adults in Mental Healthcare

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 857-857
Author(s):  
Kendall Weber ◽  
Lisa Stone
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Later Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Starting Point

Abstract Background The number of older adults in the United States is growing rapidly. The percentage of individuals from ethnic minority groups that make up this population is also rapidly increasing, with Latinx older adults comprising the fastest growing subgroup. However, Latinx older adults historically underutilize mental health services, in large part due to the lack of culturally sensitive and informed care provided by mental health professionals (de Guzman et al., 2015). However, to date, comprehensive, evidence-based best practices for mental healthcare for Latinx older adults do not exist. Method: A literature review was conducted of research on the developmental, social, cognitive, biological, and affective bases of behavior among Latinx older adults. Results Taking an integrated, evidence-based psychological approach with cultural considerations, we found that the literature could broadly be organized into six best practice guidelines. We propose assessing for and incorporating the following topics into mental health treatment of Latinx older adults: immigration status, acculturation, attitudes towards mental health, physical and cognitive health disparities, discrimination, and unique preferences for care structure in later life. Discussion These guidelines are intended to represent basic principles to incorporate into practice and do not represent an exhaustive list of factors to consider for a heterogenous group of older adults. Instead, the six, empirically-based guidelines proposed in this study can serve as a starting point for increasing mental health providers’ awareness of the unique experiences of Latinx older adults, with the aim of improving the experience of this historically underserved population in mental healthcare treatment.

An Investigation of Self-Assessment Bias in Mental Health Providers

2012 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 639-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Walfish ◽  
Brian McAlister ◽  
Paul O'Donnell ◽  
Michael J. Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Clinical Skills ◽  
Mental Health Providers ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Positive Assessment ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Assessment Bias

Previous research has consistently found self-assessment bias (an overly positive assessment of personal performance) to be present in a wide variety of work situations. The present investigation extended this area of research with a multi-disciplinary sample of mental health professionals. Respondents were asked to: (a) compare their own overall clinical skills and performance to others in their profession, and (b) indicate the percentage of their clients who improved, remained the same, or deteriorated as a result of treatment with them. Results indicated that 25% of mental health professionals viewed their skill to be at the 90th percentile when compared to their peers, and none viewed themselves as below average. Further, when compared to the published literature, clinicians tended to overestimate their rates of client improvement and underestimate their rates of client deterioration. The implications of this self-assessment bias for improvement of psychotherapy outcomes are discussed.

The Use of the Media in Marketing a Private Practice

2017 ◽  
pp. 338-345
Author(s):  
Nancy A. McGarrah
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Private Practice ◽  
Mental Health Providers ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Media ◽  
Media Work

This chapter describes the ways mental health professionals in private practice can use the media for marketing their practice as well as for educating the public. The processes for engaging in media work are addressed and the concept of being an “expert” in this field is explained. Ethics issues are emphasized, such as what mental health professionals can and cannot say in interviews. Specific guidance for providing effective interviews and ideas for receiving applicable training are given. Media-trained mental health providers can assist with interview preparation and answer questions about ethics and media work.

Malpractice

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Piel ◽  
Phillip J. Resnick
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Mental Health Clinicians ◽  
Mental Health Providers ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Intentional Actions ◽  
Malpractice Claims ◽  
Legal Concepts

A lawsuit for professional malpractice is an occupational hazard feared by many psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and counselors in the mental health field. Most actions against mental health clinicians are based on the concept of negligence. Medical negligence occurs when health care professionals fail to adhere to the standard of professional care, resulting in harm to a patient. Mental health professionals may also face legal action for certain intentional actions that cause injury to a patient. This chapter reviews the core legal concepts underlying malpractice claims against mental health clinicians. Presented here are the topics that are most likely to be the basis of liability suits against mental health providers. The chapter concludes with some strategies that mental health professionals can use to reduce the risk of malpractice liability.

Mutual Biases Underlying the Problematic Relationship between Older Adults and Mental Health Providers: Any Solution in Sight?

2002 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciana Laganà ◽  
Sheri Shanks
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Older Patients ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Mental Health Provider ◽  
Mental Health Providers ◽  
Health Providers

As the size and diversity of the older population increases, mental health providers will be called upon to deliver high-quality services to the elderly. However, many of these professionals hold negative attitudes toward the elderly; psychotherapy conducted with older adults by clinicians with such biases could represent a waste of time and energy, as well as money, for these clients. This article reviews studies conducted within the past three decades on the biases held by mental health professionals (primarily psychiatrists and psychologists) toward older patients and vice versa. It also discusses possible solutions to the conflicts within the elderly-mental health provider relationship, based on the contributions made by professionals from various health care disciplines on this topic. Moreover, this article takes into account various ethnicity-related issues that are often at play in the relationship in question, and provides research and clinical recommendations for the enhancement of the quality of this relationship. It is time to find successful and interdisciplinary ways to improve how older adults and mental health professionals deal with one another. These efforts should creatively enhance the quality of the mental health services offered to older patients, in addition to dispelling age-related myths and corresponding obstacles to the utilization of these needed services by older adults.

Beliefs and Practices of Christian Psychotherapists regarding Non-Sexual Multiple Relationships

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 330-344
Author(s):  
Randolph K. Sanders ◽  
John Eric Swenson ◽  
Gregory R. Schneller
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Professionals ◽  
Ethical Dilemma ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Multiple Relationships ◽  
Mental Health Providers ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Faith Based

A group of 362 Christian mental health professionals were surveyed regarding their beliefs about and their practices concerning non-sexual multiple relationships (NSMR's). On each of 28 items, respondents were asked to indicate the degree to which they engaged in the multiple relationship behavior and the degree to which they believed each behavior to be ethical. In addition to multiple relationship situations faced by most mental health providers, a number of the items dealt specifically with multiple relationships that arise in faith-based environments or with religious clients. Among other things, results indicated that Christian therapists who worked in church-based settings were more likely to engage in NSMR's than were therapists in other settings. Moreover, respondents indicated that non-sexual multiple relationships were the most frequent ethical dilemma they faced in practice. Implications of the findings for the training of Christian therapists and for therapists who work in faith-based settings are discussed.

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